The paint that binds

Spirited Art events allow painters of any – or no – ability to create take-home pieces of art while enjoying the company of friends or family.

If your last artistic endeavor was a childhood paint-by-number or a high school art class, a new Henrico business provides the opportunity to uncork your inner artist and fuel your creative spirit – with 30 or 40 friends if you so desire.

Open since November, Spirited Art is located in West Broad Village, adjacent to The Wine Loft. That’s where the “spirit” comes in.

Individuals and groups who attend painting sessions or classes during Wine Loft hours can order from a menu of flatbreads, sliders, cheese boards and beverages to enjoy while they create.

And the creations? Depending on the night, participants paint may anything from flowers and trees to animals to (the most popular) the Richmond skyline.

No artistic experience is needed; as promotional literature emphasizes, all that painters need to know are their shapes, letters and colors. And it helps to bring a friend and a sense of humor.

On a recent evening, Spirited Art hosted a record crowd of about 65 primarily-amateur artists gathered to paint blue crabs while they raised funds for the non-profit organization Boaz & Ruth, which has transformed the Highland Park community of Richmond by creating jobs, renovating buildings and starting businesses.

Before buckling down to their masterpieces, the painters heard from a Boaz & Ruth spokesperson, who described the organization’s job training sessions, conflict resolution classes and coaching and counseling programs and their empowering effects for participants who had struggled with homelessness, prison and addiction.

“We rebuild [not just] stores and houses,” said the spokesperson, who like most graduates of Boaz and Ruth programs was once incarcerated. “We rebuild lives.”

Family time
After a brief explanation of the process from a Spirited Art guide, and turns with the crab template to outline paintings, 65 heads bent over their canvases and the color-mixing began in earnest. Among the varied groups tackling the task were several residents of Wellesley, members of Christ Church Episcopal (a supporter of Boaz & Ruth), and employees of Free Agents Marketing. Many were encouraged to come by Marilyn Wayland of Free Agents, who organized the fundraising event.

But others who attended independently included the team of Stephanie Evans and her 12-year-old daughter Sarah, who decided to share one canvas and paint their crustacean as a collaborative effort. Their cousin and friend, Tracey Papas, was on her fourth trip to Spirited Art and had invited the Evans to join her for some family bonding.

“It’s a good summer outing,” said Stephanie Evans, as she and Sarah fine-tuned the shade of pink that would form the crab’s background.

“And nice mother-daughter time.”

Insight
On another recent afternoon, a group of 30 employees from Capital One gathered in the Spirited Art studio to paint one of the most popular subjects – the Richmond skyline – while doing some corporate team-building.

The atmosphere at the studio lends itself easily to team-building activities, say the owners, because it gets colleagues outside the comfort zone of their offices, breaks down workplace barriers and puts everyone on a more-or-less equal footing -- not to mention building camaraderie and injecting fun and humor into the mix.

In addition, participants finish the session with a memento to take home or back to the office – typically the skyline painting, but sometimes a corporate symbol or abstract piece of art. A group of 40 employees from University of Richmond, for example, all contributed to the same masterpiece: a multiple-paneled portrayal of the UR gazebo.

And after a visit by the Bon Secours Memorial School of Nursing, faculty member Trina Gardner told the Spirited Art staff, “We had no idea what to expect of this adventure, but we ended up with some excellent paintings – and insight into our true personalities!”

Among other Henrico groups and corporations that have visited Spirited Art for team-building events, said co-owner Dami Snyder, are Snagajob, Henrico County Schools, AmeriFinancial and CapTech. And although the Capital One group decided to focus on the social aspects for their experience, groups can also choose to add a challenging exercise or two. In one such exercise, explained Snyder, colleagues reach the halfway point of the session and take their communal break – only to hear the announcement that after the break, everyone will
move three seats over and resume painting on someone else’s canvas.

“It’s a good lesson,” said Snyder, pointing out that the exercise highlights surprises and setbacks that can occur in the typical workplace. “You don’t always get the project you want,” she noted as one example. “You may get a project better than you thought you’d get. And you may walk into a hot mess!”

‘I missed art in my life’
Although Spirited Art is new to the Richmond area, the concept is based on similar successful programs in Huntsville, Little Rock and Knoxville. Lauren McCormick, who is Snyder’s sister and one of four co-owners of the Richmond site, said that once she visited the Alabama location, she could hardly wait to open a similar spot back home in Richmond. When she had become a mother, said McCormick, her artistic pursuits had fallen by the wayside. “I missed art in my
life,” she said.

Despite the obstacles posed by restrictive Virginia ABC laws, which forbade the BYOB format of other Spirited Art sites, the owners persevered. Learning that the space next door to The Wine Loft was available, she approached Jeff Ottaviano of The Wine Loft about a partnership. By Thanksgiving 2011, Spirited Art Richmond was off and running, with little more than word-of-mouth advertising.

As the Boaz and Ruth event wound to a close July 24 – at $1,120 in proceeds, Spirited Art’s biggest fundraiser to date – it was clear that the session had not only made a substantial sum for charity, but had also made a substantial number of memories.

Tracey Papas, in fact, made a point of flipping her canvas over and telling the Evanses that she had recorded their names for posterity. “I always write on the back of it,” Papas told them, “about who I was with.”

Across the room, 90-year-old Irma Rich beamed for the camera held by her daughter-in-law Adrienne Rich of Free Agents, while noisy groups of co-workers and neighbors posed proudly with their paintings for photos for the Spirited Art Facebook page. And next to the Evanses, a professional artist from Chesterfield wrapped up her fourth crab painting and speculated on which charity might be the recipient of her latest effort.

A frequent studio visitor, Sally Valentine has already painted a half dozen projects for the purpose of donating them to silent auctions at charity events. The last time she painted a crab, it raised $85 for a fundraiser for the Cape Charles Museum; another Spirited Art painting made $185 at a separate silent auction.

But generating money for charity, said Valentine, is not the only thing she enjoys about her visits to Spirited Art. The evening sessions allow her a chance to get out and meet interesting people, while also freeing her from distractions and enforcing a built-in time limit.

“It’s great,” said Valentine, “that you can come here and and sit down and paint – and it forces you to finish it!”

RAMPS (Ramp Access Made Possible by Students) recently received an $8,000 grant from the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation. The award was one of 75 grants totaling more than $600,137 awarded by the Reeve Foundation to nonprofit organizations nationwide that provide more opportunities, access, and daily quality of life for individuals living with paralysis, their families and caregivers.

RAMPS, an organization founded by then-Henrico County high school students to build ramps for local low-income residents who need them, will use the grant to purchase modular wheelchair ramp supplies. These supplies will be used by local high school RAMPS clubs, who provide volunteers to build the ramps. > Read more.

Henrico resident Larry Loving, Jr., will compete with three other locals – Thomas Scribner (Richmond), Roscoe McGhee (Midlothian) and Larry Loving (Richmond) in the Liberty Mutual Insurance Invitational National Finals at TPC Sawgrass, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., Feb. 26-Mar. 1. The foursome qualified for the national golf tournament by winning the Liberty Mutual Insurance Invitational, held at Whiskey Creek Golf Club in Ijamsville, Md. on June 11. That event supported the RiteCare Center for Childhood Language Disorders.

The Henrico Police Athletic League (PAL) held its Sixth Annual Awards Banquet Feb. 5 at The Cultural Arts Center of Glen Allen, celebrating accomplishments of 2014 and recognizing outstanding contributions to the organization. Henrico County Juvenile Domestic Court Judge Denis Soden served as master of ceremonies and former Harlem Globetrotter Melvin Adams served as keynote speaker.

Among the 2014 honorees were Richmond International Raceway (Significant Supporter), Richmond Strikers Soccer Club (Significant Supporter), Henrico County Schools-Pupil Transportation (Summer Camp Supporter), Bruce Richardson, Jr. (Youth of the Year), Sandra Williams (Volunteer of the Year), Thomas Williams (Employee of the Year), Mikki Pleasants (Board Member of the Year), and Michelle Sheehan (Police Officer of the Year). > Read more.

It was another win for Willow Lawn when Travinia Italian Kitchen and Wine Bar opened there six months ago, nestled in the heart of the re-made shopping center. The contemporary American Italian restaurant boasts 13 locations up and down the East Coast, with the Henrico location opening in August.

In the same week, I hit up Travinia twice, once for lunch and once for a late dinner. At lunchtime on a weekday, I was overwhelmed by the smell of garlic and by the number of working professionals in nice suits on their lunch breaks. When we first walked in, I was concerned our meal would be a little too pricey based on the décor – it’s a really nice place. Luckily, the menu has a variety of options for every budget. > Read more.

There’s a ton of sugar in The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water. Literal sugar, as SpongeBob Squarepants (Tom Kenny) and Patrick (Bill Fagerbakke) inhale their own weight in cotton candy and eat ice cream, one scoop per mouthful.

At one point we burrow into the brain of our boxy yellow hero and discover the inner workings of his brain: googly-eyed cakes and candies that giggle and sing. All of which is extremely appropriate for a film like Sponge Out of Water. Because not only is the movie sweet (the “awwww” kind of sweet), but it’s the equivalent of a 30-candy bar sugar rush, zipping between ideas like a sponge on rocket skates.

The story under all this is really not that complicated. SpongeBob flips burgers at the Krusty Krab. > Read more.

With this last round of snow still fresh on the ground, the best way to start the weekend may be at Southern Season for their weekly wine-tasting program, Fridays Uncorked. Families with cabin fever will enjoy the Richmond Kids Expo, taking place tomorrow at the Richmond Raceway Complex. Some date night options include the Rock & Roll Jubilee at The Cultural Arts Center at Glen Allen, HATTheatre’s production of “The Whale” and National Theatre Live’s “Treasure Island” at the University of Richmond. For all our top picks this weekend, click here! > Read more.

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